SoylentNews

upstart writes in with an IRC submission:

Military-spec filament produces stronger 3D-printed objects:

While consumer-grade 3D printers may be adequate for making things like models or curios, they're not always up to the task of creating objects that stand up to real-world use. That could be about to change, though, thanks to a new printing filament.

Compact, inexpensive 3D printers typically utilize a process known as fused filament fabrication (FFF). This involves heating a plastic filament to its melting point, then extruding it through a nozzle. Successive layers of the molten plastic are deposited one on top of the other, forming a single solid object as they cool and fuse together.

According to US Army engineers, though, items printed in this fashion tend to be too structurally weak for rough-and-tough use by soldiers in the field. This is a shame, since if troops were able to carry small, cheap 3D printers with them, they could make parts and tools onsite as needed. And although there are printers that use non-FFF techniques to produce stronger objects, those machines are large and costly, making them impractical for field use.

Led by Dr. Eric D. Wetzel, researchers from the Army's Emerging Composites team set out to address this problem. They ultimately created a new dual-polymer filament that allows consumer 3D printers to produce much stronger items, utilizing their existing FFF hardware.

Source: US Army Research Laboratory

Journal Reference:
Kevin R. Hart, Ryan M. Dunn, Eric D. Wetzel. Tough, Additively Manufactured Structures Fabricated with Dual‐Thermoplastic Filaments, Advanced Engineering Materials (DOI: 10.1002/adem.201901184)

Original Submission